Every single room in a workplace is vitally important for a range of different reasons. The open plan office is where the work is done, the canteen area is where breaks and refreshing of minds occurs, the reception is where first impressions are made. The boardroom? Where big decisions are made!
The very word ‘boardroom’ brings to mind a space of dominance, strength, importance, and when you consider what is done there, that description isn’t far wrong. Decisions are made, ideas are born, discussions are had, sometimes heated debates occur – the boardroom could be considered the decision-making heartbeat of the organisation.
So, in-keeping with its importance, you need to keep distractions when the room is in use to an absolute minimum. It’s no good having someone interrupting a vitally important meeting every five minutes – nothing is going to get discussed constructively, and tempers will flare!
Therefore, your boardroom space needs to be somewhere that management and staff can go to talk, create, debate, discuss, and make hard decisions, without noise from outside or constant breaks in concentration. From boardroom seating to the conference table itself, design is everything.
It has ben shown that on average, meetings and important discussions are interrupted every 11 minutes – that’s a lot of time wasted! In light of this, we also spoke to Co-Founder & Director Tomas Coulter of 360 Resourcing Solutions and here is what he had to say on this topic: “I’ve been in many boardrooms in my time, both as the founder of 360 Resourcing and as a guest visiting clients, yet I’ve seen many meetings get disrupted by the simplest things. You have to give your senior decision-makers the time to determine business strategy, whether that’s about recruitment and growth or new products, so finding the right solutions is a must.”
So, how can you create that distraction-free boardroom, to facilitate those important meetings? Let's explore.
Noise is Everything
There are two types of noise that can disrupt your boardroom meeting, firstly the noise inside the room, and then the noise outside of it. Ask everyone to turn off their phones when they enter a meeting, or at least turn them onto silent. But, what can you do about noise from outside that spills into the room and causes a major disruption?
When planning out your workspace, situate your boardroom away from places which are likely to be more noisy than others, e.g. if your office has a main road to the backside and a quieter area to the front, you should place your boardroom to the front. You need noise to be absorbed, blocked, and then covered, to keep everything to an absolute minimum. Of course, if your workspace is particularly noisy in general, how about sound proofing for your most important spaces, e.g. your boardroom? This will allow those meetings to take place without any outside noise causing issues.
Have a Room Booking Mechanism
How many times have you been in a meeting and someone knocks on the door thinking the room is free for them to use? Countless times! You can get around this by implementing a booking system for the boardroom. This could be held at reception, and everyone knows to go there to look at availability.
There could also be a rota of usage outside the room, laminated on the wall, so that people can see at a glance when there is space. This will cut down on the number of door knocks throughout a meeting. Studies have also shown that a large amount of time is lost by employees trying to find an empty room in which to conduct ad hoc meetings, so having a booking system is a quick and easy point of reference of when a room is full.
Think About Delegate Comfort
Whenever you are conducting a meeting you don’t only need to think about what is going to be discussed, but you need to think about the comfort of those attending the meeting too. This isn’t about you simply being nice and friendly, it’s about holding their attention for a longer period of time. Sneaky!
For instance, if you are at a meeting and it’s very hot inside, you’re going to become thirsty, right? You’re not going to sit still, you’re going to think constantly about how you’re sweating, and how dry your throat is. Are you going to take in much of what is being said? No. With that example you can understand how comfort is key. Having a comfortable boardroom will cut down on interruptions and breaks in concentration. This includes the following factors:
- Room temperature
- The amount of light in the room – you don’t want to blind your delegates by keeping blinds open with sunlight flooding in! Similarly, you don’t want it to be too dark either
- Office desks and chairs, and how comfortable they are
- Offering water, tea, coffee and juice
- Having a space for delegates to lean on and make notes, e.g. the right height desk
- Offering spare pens and paper for those who have forgotten
- Having enough handouts and agendas on the table for those who haven’t brought their original copy
Ensure Everything Works as it Should
Do you have a whiteboard that connects to a laptop or tablet? Do you have laptops or computers in the room for delegates to use? Make sure that they all work. There is a large amount of disruption potential when technology doesn’t work, and people have to stop what they’re doing or talking about, to figure out how to connect something or get it working. This means making sure that your technological connections are always working, and having a test run of everything before the meeting starts, just to be on the safe side.
These are all easy ways to ensure that your boardroom meetings are disrupted less, and as a result, they become much more effective and fruitful. None of these ideas are rocket science, and none of them cost the earth either, it’s all about clever design and thinking outside of the box a little when putting your room together. You can easily find plentiful options for decorating and filing your room, to create the right ambiance. Perhaps try white office furniture for a light and airy look, or go for more formal black and wooden designs if you’re trying to create a more ‘serious’ approach.
It’s all in the design and quickly running through your mind before a meeting starts to ensure that everything is in place and that you haven’t forgotten something. Keeping everyone comfortable is the number one way to prevent distractions.